Kasaragod: Confirming the students' allegation of impurities, the Kerala Water Authority on Sunday said it has found the presence of E Coli in the water samples collected from the Kasaragod Government College.

Former principal in-charge M Rema, who was removed from her post following the tiff with the students, had claimed that the water was safe for drinking.

While zero counts of E Coli in 100 ml of water is considered safe for drinking, the water samples from the college showed 16 counts of the bacteria.

Despite the students raising the issue multiple times, Rema maintained that the water was safe for drinking. E Coli in water indicates the presence of sewage or animal waste contamination.

The students are planning to hold a protest in the college on Monday and will also file a complaint with the Superintendent of Police, reported Manorama News.

Earlier, Higher Education Minister R Bindu had intervened and removed Rema from the principal's post after she locked up students who went to her cabin to complain about water.

 

Rema apologises 

Meanwhile, former principal Rema has apologised for causing any 'mental trauma' due to her words. In a statement issued on Sunday, she said that her criticisms were against certain students. "But my comments might have given an impression that I was referring to all students of the college. I apologise to students if my words have caused any mental trauma or damaged the image of the institution."

But she said though the tiff with the students led to her removal from the post, the attack on her through social media is continuing unabated. "People must understand the truth and reject the social media slandering," she said in the statement. "I spoke to a reporter from a TV channel. They now claim that my husband paid the reporter to air my interview. This is totally false."

"SFI unleashed a violent protest against me on February 23. Although there was police protection, they created a crowd in a pre-planned manner and tried to kill me. I was under severe stress when I spoke to the reporter. I made some inadvertent mistakes. Now they are using those slips of the tongue to attack me on social media," she said.

 

'Stopping ragging on campus provoked SFI'

Earlier, Rema had alleged that the members SFI were behind the latest student protests. She claimed they targeted her for preventing them from ragging and drug abuse. "Anti-social activities are rampant in the college. SFI activists conspired against me for questioning them. They barged into the office room and created a ruckus alleging the drinking water was polluted. When I was about to leave for lunch, I asked them to leave the room. But they did not budge. I locked the room to safeguard the question papers and money," Rema said.

"The next day too, the SFI activists gathered and gheraoed me in the office. They prevented me from doing my duties and assaulted me physically," the former principal alleged.

The SFI denied the allegations as baseless.

The conflict between the SFI activists and the former principal could affect ties between CPI and CPM in the district.

CPM members turning hostile to help BJP activists, who attacked MLA E Chandrasekharan, walk free has not gone down well with CPI in the district.

Rema’s husband is a former district committee member of the CPI. With the SFI, the student's wing of the CPM, acting against its cadre, some in the district believe that mounting tension between the two constituents of the LDF could spill out into a larger turf war.